Floor-mat.



W. H. HOPKINS & W. R. WILSON.

FLOOR MAT.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.19, 1912.

1 73 79 Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

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WILLIAM H. HOPKINS AND WALTER R. WILSON, OF OAKLAND, CALIFOBNIA.

' FLOOR-MAT.

Specification of: Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. e, 1913.

Application filed November s, 1912. Serial no. 732,390;

To all whom it it my concern:

Be it known that We, WILLIAM H. Hor- KINS and WALTER R. WILSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in F loo-r-Mats, of Which the following is a specification.

i An object of the invention is to provide a mat of simple and durable construction and which can be folded for shipment.

' The invention embodies, among other features, a mat preferably made of metal and including spring-like S-shaped members arranged to coact to frictionally retain the mat in an open position, the said mat being foldable so that the same can be readily shipped in a compact bundle.

In the further disclosure of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying fication, in which similar characters of ref erence denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in whichz' Figure 1 is a. plan view of themat, showing the same in open position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mat in open position; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the mat in closed position; Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sec tional view taken on the line H in Fig. 1'; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the S-shaped members. I

Referring more particularly to the views, we disclose a mat 10 comprising a series of U-shaped frames 11, each preferably made of a single piece of wire-like material and having the ends thereof bent toform hooks 12, with the hooks of the first frame adapted for pivotal connection with the second frame and so on until a sufiicient number of frames are employed to secure a mat of the desired length, after which a securing rod 13, preferably formed of a single piece of wire-1ike material and bent atthe ends to form hooks 1 1, is adapted forconnection with the last frame, with the hooks 14 of the locking rod engaging the hooks 12 of the last frame, as shown.

A series of S-shaped members 15 are employed to form the body ofthe mat and are preferably arranged in rows, with the first row of members having the medial portion of the first U-shaped frame 11 passing through the outer curved ends thereof to secure the members in adjacent position onthe frame, With the medial portion of the second frame tact between the'inner ends ofthe first row the second row of S-shaped members. In 1 of S-shaped members and the outerends of a similar manner, a third row of S-shaped members have connection with the third U- shaped frame and the. inner ends of llllGSGC-f 0nd row of S-shaped members are connected to the said third U-shaped frameand interposed between the outer ends of the S-ehape'd members in the third row in the same man-1' ner that the first and second rows of .S- 1

shaped members have connection with the go 7 second U-shaped' frame 11, it being further seen that the adjacent ,U-shapedframes l1 areconnect'e'd'in the manner mentioned here tofore. N wwnen the last U shaped frame 11 has been secured in position with the medial portion of the last U-shaped frame passing through the outer'ends of the {last row of S-shaped members and the inner ends of the second last row ofS-shaped members, the securing rod 13 is secured to the last U-shaped frame in the manner mentioned heretofore and passes through the inner ends ofthe last row of S-shaped members, thusforming the completed mat. A series of reinforcing links 16 are provided, a pair of linksbeing employed for each row of S-shaped members 15 with one link of each pair connected to the medial portions of the first and second. U-shaped frames to one side of each row of S-shaped members and the other link connected to the medial portions of adjacent U-shaped frames at the other end of adjacent rows of S-shaped members, the pair of links, however, having connection with the medial portion of the last U-shaped frame and the securing rod 13, the said reinforcing links being arranged on the medial portions of the U-shaped frames adjacent the points of connection of one U-shaped frame with the next U-shaped frame, thus permitting of readily folding the mat 10 by folding the second row of S- too shaped members to the first row, the third row upon the second row and the fourth rows upon the third row, as shown in Fig. 3.

As mentioned heretofore, the curved ends of the S-shaped members, when the S- shaped members are supported on the U- shaped frames 11, are normally pressed-together and when the mat is arranged in an open position the curved end of one $5 shaped member in one row will abut against the curved 'endof anotherSi-shaped member s in an adjacent" row, thus causing one 8- shaped m'ember to frictionally engage 7 another and exert an outward pressure 'whieh will result in a pressure being exerted against the reinforcing links 16 o fri t onal ly cause the S-shaped members to: remain open position and also frictionall y the reinforcing links in open position.

' shaped frames supporting the same. It will, therefore, be readily understood that a particular function is accomplished in em:

Pl ying t sheped m mb rs, s r ed j position.

herein, in that the curved end ofone S- shaped member abutting against the curved end of an adjacent Sr-shaped ends of the S-shaped members in that the curvature of each of the said ends is restricted when the ends are carried on the U- shaped frames.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

In a mat, the combination with a series of Ltsli vped frames, with one frame connected o the nex ja n f iame, of ha members carried by the said frames and aran n djacent owath Said. S-s p ine iibers in each row being movable on the said framesto superimpose one row of S shaped members upon another when the said frames are relatively folded, with the ends of the $,-shaped members in one row frictionally' engaging ends of the S-shaped members in an adjacent row to, exert a lateralpressure on the said U-shaped frames at their points of connection and frictionally retain the Q-sh aped frames in Qpen 1 st mony wher of We f ur S gma tures in presenee of two witnesses,

WILLIAM H. HOPKINS. I WALTER R. WILSON.

iVitnesses:

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